


won’t shake me loose

by allandmore99



Series: like lovers do [2]
Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Families of Choice, Found Family, Kid Fic, Mpreg, Multi, Post Mpreg, Threesome - M/M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-16 08:07:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29204088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allandmore99/pseuds/allandmore99
Summary: Booker thought he would never get a second chance at a family. But he’s building a home, brick by brick, with Joe, Nicky and baby Juliette.
Relationships: Booker | Sebastien le Livre/Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolo di Genova
Series: like lovers do [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2144163
Comments: 33
Kudos: 59





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> And we return 😍 Initially I was going to write their whole weekend trip as one chapter but I’ve been so busy lately, and I wanted to get a little something out there in the world! More to follow :)

Juliette was four months old when Booker left her completely in someone else’s care for the first time. Well, technically he had left her in Nile, Andy and Quynh’s care when she was three months old and his heat hit, but he had still been able to check up on her then every couple of hours, in his more lucid moments. 

Now, he was going to leave her for a whole three days and it vaguely terrified him. Andy had been the one to talk him into it, in the end, had sat him down and reminded him that he was trying to build a relationship with Nicky and Joe as well, and it was hard to do that when their whole life centred around their daughter. “Take a few days,” she encouraged. “Go off with Joe, somewhere to relax. It’ll be good for you and for Juliette as well, it’ll give her and Nicky a chance to bond, just the two of them. And we’ll be here to help him, you know that.” Booker nodded, knowing that she was right but still finding it difficult to think about not seeing his daughter for so long.

Nicky let him hold her for as long as he needed to on the morning that he and Joe were supposed to leave, kissing her soft curls a thousand times and whispering to her in French. “You know where the milk is in the fridge? And the formula if you need it?” Booker asked Nicky, rocking Juliette gently in his arms. “Yes, Basti,” Nicky answered patiently. He grinned at his lover. “You know, usually it’s my job to fret like this,” he teased. “She’ll be fine, you know I’ll protect her with my life.” “And if you get too tired of taking care of her on your own, you’ll call Joe and I right?” Nicky nodded, giving Juliette his index finger to play with and try and nibble on. “Yes, but it’ll be fine, I promise. And next time you and I can go on a weekend away somewhere and Joe will watch her.” Booker shook his head, leaving a kiss on the corner of Nicky’s lips. “No, my dear, next time you and Joe will go away together and I will watch her, because I haven’t forgotten that your lives have changed enormously over the past few months. After almost a thousand years together, suddenly you have a new partner and a child to get used to at the same time—I’m sure you would like a little time just the two of you,” he offered, and Nicky gave him a look that made Booker want to melt. “Okay,” he agreed, kissing Booker chastely. “But after that, you’ll go away with me?” Booker nodded, pulling Nicky in for a last kiss. “Yes, of course, Nico, I would love to.” He looked down at his daughter, etching her features into his memory even though he had a thousand photos of her saved on his phone. “Be good for babbo, will you?” He scented her one last time, burying his nose in her nest of curls. “I love you so much, my little princess,” he whispered. “I’ll see you in a few days, and I’ll miss you every minute that we’re apart,” he assured her, and then he let her go, handing her carefully over to Nicky and taking Joe’s hand instead.

“So,” he asked Joe as they climbed into the car, a couple of duffel bags thrown into the back, “where are we heading?” Joe had planned everything and kept it a surprise, but he just shot Booker a fond look and shook his head. “Still not telling you, love,” he insisted as he got into the driver’s seat and handed Booker a thermos of coffee. 

They drove through the countryside towards the coast, and Booker at first thought they might be going to Pisa, but then Joe turned south, skirting the coast, and Booker’s curiosity was well and truly piqued. “Can I have a hint, please?” He needled Joe, and the other man laughed. “You’re as bad as Nicky with surprises, you know,” he teased. “Alright, fine—we’re going to visit your boss,” he told Booker with a grin, and that just confused Booker more. His boss? He only ever called Andy that, and unless he was very mistaken, she was back at their house.

In a nondescript beach town, they pulled into a small parking lot where Joe turned off the car and rifled through their bags for some papers. “Hold this, hayati,” he told Booker, handing him two pieces of paper. “We’ll need that for the ferry.” “The ferry?” Booker asked, still a little confused, and then he realised where they were going. “My boss!” He exclaimed, bursting into laughter. “I don’t think the Emperor would have reacted well if I called him boss,” he remarked, unfolding the two tickets for the car ferry to Elba. “I’ve never been here actually, in all these years,” he admitted, and Joe flashed him a smile. “Somewhere new for us to explore together, then.”

The ferry ride was remarkably quick and comfortable, and soon they were pulling off the ferry and driving onto the quai of the lush island. “Not bad for exile,” Joe remarked, whistling softly, and Booker smiled, rolling down the window to feel the fresh sea air. “It’s not Fontainebleau or any of the Emperor’s other palaces, but it’s nice, isn’t it?” There was still the smallest bit of awe in Booker’s voice when he talked about Napoleon, even after so many years. Joe could understand that—after all, Napoleon had been a larger-than-life figure, and he had been Booker’s king and commander back during his mortal life. 

They checked into a small family hotel overlooking the sea, and Booker was charmed at how the alpha couple that owned and operated the hotel fussed over them, especially Booker. “You’re a little early for the main tourist season,” the woman told them, “so we had plenty of rooms available. We put you in my favourite one, it’s got the biggest balcony,” she told them, showing Booker how to work the controls on the hot tub as they passed it. She let them into their lovingly decorated room, gesturing to a little basket of cheeses and a half bottle of champagne. “Just a little welcome gift,” she said dismissively when Booker tried to thank her. “Your husband said that you were having your first weekend trip away from your little girl. How old is she?” She asked, and Booker brightened, always happy to talk about Juliette to anyone who would listen.

When she finally left them alone and her husband had set their bags down, Joe turned to Booker and kissed him, sweetly. Booker leaned into the touch, arms wrapping around Joe’s waist, and then he pulled apart, his cheeks flushing slightly. “I’m sorry I didn’t think to correct her when she called you my husband,” he confessed, and Joe just shook his head, looking contemplative for a moment. “It doesn’t matter what label she uses, Book; I know what you are.” He pressed another chaste kiss to Booker’s lips. “You’re half of my heart,” he whispered against them. “The half that doesn’t belong to Nicky. And you’re the parent of my child. My only child, in nearly a thousand years of life, and you gave her to me.” 

Booker kissed him back hungrily at that, backing Joe up against the wall, and they were both desperate and panting by the time Booker pulled away regretfully. “I—we should have asked Nicky,” he sighed, and Joe entangled their fingers as he caught his breath. He knew Nicky well enough after a thousand years that he was pretty confident that he wouldn’t have a problem with it, but it was true that they hadn’t slept together before just the two of them without Nicky, and Joe was touched that Booker wanted to make sure that they were all on the same page. “I know you’ll want to call him tonight to make sure everything is alright with Juliette,” Joe said knowingly, brushing a stray strand of hair behind Booker’s ear. “We can ask him then, if you want,” and Booker nodded, pressing a last grateful kiss to the corner of Joe’s mouth.

After they showered—separately, to ward off temptation—and changed, they got back in the car to go grab lunch at a little seaside cafe and to go see Napoleon’s townhouse, saving his country villa for the next day. Joe amused himself by carefully inspecting the various artefacts that Napoleon had brought back from his travels and whispering his assessment to Booker—“definitely not 1200s Turkey, I was there then, the handles were in a completely different style,” he insisted about one vase.

They FaceTimed Nicky when they got back to the hotel, wanting to catch him while the baby was still awake. She squealed with happiness when she saw Booker and Joe on the screen, and Nicky laughed, jostling her a bit on his lap. “That’s right, Juliette,” he told her in Italian. “Papa and baba are there, on their vacation. Should we tell them about what we did today?” She gave a little noise and tugged at Nicky’s hair, and Nicky obligingly told them all about how he had made fig jam from the figs in their garden, then he and Juliette had walked into town and Signora Bianchi, who ran the cheese shop, had pretended to not even recognise Juliette because she had gotten so big. Booker and Joe took turns telling about their driving around the island, their cafe lunch, and Napoleon’s house, and then after Quynh came in to take Juliette and give her her bath, Booker very awkwardly and euphemistically tried to ask Nicky if he could sleep with Joe. Nicky pretended not to understand at first, then burst into laughter and shot them both a fond look. “Of course,” he replied easily. “Thank you for asking, but you don’t need to, you always have my permission as long as we’re honest with each other.”

“Always, my heart,” Joe replied softly, gazing at Nicky through the screen with that lovelorn gaze that Booker had seen for more than two hundred years. It had filled him with such jealousy for most of those years, but now he understood, because he ached the same for both of them. In that moment, as much fun as he had been having with Joe, he wished that Nicky was there beside him to kiss. He settled for curling under Joe’s arm and prolonging the conversation between the three of them for a few more minutes, until Quynh brought a sleepy Juliette back in, all wrapped up in her favourite fluffy bear onesie with little ears on top of her head. “Did you have a good bath, sweetheart?” Nicky asked, cuddling her close and rubbing her back through the plush cloth, and Booker felt that familiar sweet pang in his heart. If he had ever worried that Nicky wouldn’t feel the same about her because she wasn’t his biological child, those doubts had been long since quashed. She was every bit Nicky’s daughter, and it warmed Booker’s heart to watch them together, the same as when he saw her and Joe. Juliette yawned, her blue eyes blinking slowly, and Nicky chuckled. “I think I had better put our girl to bed,” he decided, and turned her to face the camera. “Say goodnight to baba and papa,” he told her, always good about talking to her even though she was obviously too young to fully understand. “Only two more sleeps and they will be home with us,” he promised her, lifting up her little hand and waving it at Booker and Joe. “Have fun, you two,” he added with a wink, and then he ended the call and it was just the two of them, curled into each other. 


	2. Chapter 2

They stayed at the hotel that night for dinner, since it was nice to just be able to stroll back to their room after a heavy Italian meal, and plus they were charmed the innkeeper couple’s determination to fuss over them. They brought Booker and Joe so many freebies—a welcome aperitif, little trays of olives and open-faced sandwiches, a glass of limoncello and littlehandmade chocolates—that they almost felt bad taking them given how reasonably priced the dinner was.

There was a delicious tension in the air since they had talked to Nicky, an intimacy between them as they ate overlooking the sea and chatted. Booker had forgotten what this was like, to be desired. He had forgotten how sweet the anticipation was, the thrill of noticing how Joe’s gaze lingered on the curve of his neck, the thin bones of his wrist. The heat built slowly between them, course by course, and by the time Booker was licking the last bit of cream from his tiramisu off the spoon, they were both pretty worked up. 

They waved off the kind innkeeper’s offer of a coffee, told her to put the meal on their room bill, and started to walk back to their room. It was no distance at all, really—and yet they still had to stop three times on their way to kiss, sighing into each other’s mouths. When they finally got back to the room, they had barely shut the door when they were on each other again, kissing pressed up against the wall while Joe tried to unbutton Booker’s shirt as quickly as possible. 

Booker managed to walk them back to the bed, flopping down onto it just as Joe managed to get his shirt off and started working on his jeans. He cooperated as much as possible, lifting his hips and wriggling out of his pants, then watched, eyes hooded, as Joe stripped out of his own things. He took just a moment to look Joe up and down, enjoying the view, before he pulled him back on top of him, kissing him deeply and grinding up into him. “God, I’m normally never this desperate outside of my heats,” Booker admitted, gasping as Joe started to kiss down the side of his neck, his beard scratching his sensitive skin in just the right way. 

Joe laved at his collarbone before moving down to his chest, and Booker positively yelped when Joe’s mouth sealed around one puffy nipple. Booker had pumped a little milk earlier before dinner, but he decidedly wasn’t used to not having Juliette around to nurse, and his chest had become a bit sore. Joe’s lips felt like heaven, and Booker groaned as Joe coaxed a few drops of milk from him. “How does it taste?” He asked, curious, and Joe grinned up at him, licking his lips. “It’s good,” he reassured Booker. “Nice and sweet, really. Does it feel good?” Booker nodded frantically, fighting not to shove Joe’s head back down to where a thin drop of milk was beading again. “Please,” he begged, “so sensitive,” and Joe dutifully bent his head, suckling gently at Booker until his small breasts were empty again. 

“Thank you, thank you so much,” Booker babbled, pulling Joe up to kiss him again once his chest was too sensitive to stand the touch any longer. “Merde, Joe,” Booker cursed. “I need you so badly, I’m going crazy with it,” and Joe quieted him, his hand brushing up Booker’s side and sending a shiver running through him. “I’ve got you,” he whispered, carefully pressing in where Booker was slick and wanting, hisjagged breath puffing warm against Booker’s lips. “I love you so much,” Booker whispered, and then his world whited out in pleasure as Joe started to move.

It was a glorious three day getaway, full of sleeping far later than Juliette normally let them, strolling through seaside villages, and one memorable kayaking trip in which they nearly capsized three times.Booker was extremely glad he had let Andy talk him into going away for a few days, but by the time they checked out of the hotel, waving goodbye to the innkeepers who had insisted on pressing a small bag full of things from their garden into their hands as they left, Booker was ready to be home again in their little house that he had come to love, and more than ready to see Nicky and Juliette again. 

Joe shot him a knowing glance, briefly entangling their fingers and squeezing tightly. “We’ll be home soon,” he promised Booker. “Easily home in time for dinner and then we can put Juli to bed tonight.” Booker smiled at him, rolling down the window to enjoy the last bits of the sea air. “This was so nice, Joe, thank you,” he remarked. “But I do miss my little girl,” he admitted, and Joe laughed. “I know you do,” he said gently. “I miss her too, even though I know she’s been in good hands with Nicky. He’s a great father,” he said a little dreamily, and Booker swatted at his arm playfully. “You’re going to jump Nicky’s bones as soon as we get back, aren’t you?” Joe winked at him. “Well, maybe not as soon as we get back, I have to kiss Juli hello after all...but in the first five minutes,” and there was no part of Booker that doubted it or even was surprised.

Joe kept his word—as they pulled into the driveway, Nile waved enthusiastically at them from where she was sitting in the garden painting her nails and then went in the house to tell the others that they had come back. Nicky came out first carrying Juliette, the bags under his eyes only slightly worse than when they had left, his whole face brightening when he saw them. “Welcome home”, he greeted them, giving Booker a quick kiss and then Joe a much longer one. “We missed both of you. Didn’t we, Juliette?” He asked the baby, smiling at her happy screeches upon spotting her other two parents. “Hello, my princess,” Joe murmured, bending to pepper her face with kisses and blowing a raspberry against her cheek just to hear her giggle. “Have you been good for babbo?” Nicky chuckled. “She’s been pretty good,” he declared. “Though last night she wouldn’t go to sleep for a while, she was crying and crying and I couldn’t figure out what was wrong. I think maybe she missed you two,” he mused. “Finally I managed to get her to sleep by telling her a long story about Constantinople in 1226. Guess she got bored of me recounting every minute detail of our six months there,” he added with a smile, and Joe couldn’t help but pull him in for another kiss. “You’re so good with her,” he whispered, and Booker rolled his eyes fondly. “Alright, I’m prescribing you two with some alone time,” he teased, reaching out to take Juliette into his own arms. “I’ll be getting reacquainted with our little lady here,” he told them, smiling as Juliette promptly bopped him on the nose with her little fist. “Now, ma belle, let me tell you all about how bad your baba is at kayaking,” he began with a lopsided grin, settling back in to the warm coziness of home and family. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t know if I’m completely done with baby! Juliette, but this idea just came into my mind today and I had to get it out! I see this second part of the series more as a collection of scenes from their lives together, so it may not always be linear ❤️

Booker had always known that he would have to have a number of difficult conversations with Juliette, but he had expected to have a little more time before he had to tackle this one. She was only a toddler, after all, chatty and vibrant, but when he picked her up from a play date with some of the other girls in the neighbourhood he could immediately tell that something was wrong. 

She waited until they were out of sight of her friend’s house, dutifully holding Booker’s hand like he had told her to always do when they were on a busy street, before she turned up to look at him with the same exact look that Joe used when he wanted the last spoonful of Nutella in the house. “Papa?” She asked in a soft voice. “Who are my real parents?”

Booker felt a pang at the unexpected question, but she continued talking rapid-fire to him in French, another sign that she didn’t want to risk anyone overhearing. “Because Maria told me that nobody could have three papas, you could only have two so one must not be my real papa. I told her she was wrong and also stupid because I have you and baba and also babbo, but she told me that that’s not possible and that you can only have three dads if your parents are divorced and that one still isn’t your real dad. Then I asked what’s divorced and Alessandra’s dad said it means when your parents don’t live together anymore and Caterina’s mom said it means you did a very bad thing and can’t go to church anymore and I said well, nobody in my family goes to church anyway except Aunt Nile but I don’t think you’re divorced because we all live together—“

Booker sighed softly, stopping in his tracks and pulling her into a little park, sitting down on a bench and pulling her into his lap. “There are all kinds of different families, ma puce,” he started to explain, carding his fingers through her riot of curls. “Some families are very small, with just a mama or a papa, and some are very big, like your friend Lucia, remember how she has her mama and papa in her house, plus her four brothers, her uncle Giulio and also her mama’s mama.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead, breathing in her sweet scent to calm himself. “Our family is already special because you have Aunt Andy, Aunt Quynh and Aunt Nile who live with us. Not everyone is so lucky to have three aunts to live with them and love them,” he encouraged, and she managed a small smile but the serious, troubled lookthat reminded him so much of Nicky remained on her face. “Our family is also special because you have three fathers. Your baba and babbo were already married to each other when I met them,” he explained. “But they had so much love to give that they had plenty for me, too.”

He clasped her small hand in his, looking into her eyes. “People become parents in all different ways. What makes someone a papa isn’t how they got their baby, it’s how much they love them. In your case, your baba gave you your beautiful hair,” Booker explained quietly, reaching out to touch one springy curl. “And I carried you in my belly and gave you your lovely eyes, and babbo gave you your last name, that you and he share, just the two of you. And all of us love you very much and are so lucky to have you as our daughter,” he assured her, and that earned him a real smile. “Does that make sense, sweetheart?” He wasn’t sure how much she had understood, but she seemed reassured, and she nodded solemnly. “I’m glad you asked me,” he told her, helping her up off the bench and starting to walk home. “I want you to always feel like you can ask me any questions you have.”

Nicky was outside working in the garden when they got home, and Juliette immediately let go of Booker’s hand, running over to him and tightly wrapping her arms around Nicky’s legs. He looked surprised, but picked her up in the air, twirling her around before cuddling her close to his chest. “I’m so glad you’re my babbo,” she whispered against his shoulder, and Nicky’s arms tightened around her. “I’m so glad I am too, cara,” Nicky whispered against her halo of curls. Booker’s heart melted watching them, as he realised that she had understood more than he had thought. He knew, as he saw Nicky’s confused gaze over the top of Juliette’s head, that he would have to tell Nicky and Joe later about the conversation they had had, but he thought he had handled it fairly well. In the meantime, he simply leaned against the garden gate, enjoying the sight of Nicky showing their daughter all the new flowers he had planted. 


	4. Chapter 4

Booker kept waiting for more questions from Juliette in the weeks after their talk about her parents, but the subject seemed to have been put to rest in her mind. She didn’t seem to act any differently towards them than she always had, her sweet and cheerful disposition was the same as it always was, and the only major change was that she told Booker, a few days after the first conversation, “I don’t want to go play with Maria anymore, please. I don’t want to play with anyone who says that you’re not my real papas,” she declared stubbornly, and Booker couldn’t argue with that. He hugged her tight, proud of his little girl standing up for herself. “You never have to play with anyone you don’t want to spend time with,” he promised her.

He meant that, of course, but he did worry that her decision meant that she would be lonely—Maria had the biggest house in their neighbourhood and so most of the town’s playdates were held at her place. Giving up friendship with Maria meant giving up those boisterous gatherings and probably a number of other friendships as well.

Booker should have known, though, that his daughter was resilient, and she didn’t seem to suffer from having less interaction with the neighbourhood girls that summer. She spent more time studiously working in her sketchbook, asking Joe for help from time to time. Most of her drawings still looked mostly like scribbles, of course, but Joe insisted that she had talent for one so little, and she was certainly dedicated to improving. 

She asked her beloved Aunt Andy for “training” sessions, which were mercifully age-appropriate—Andy was wisely saving the real self-defence stuff for much further down the line, and instead was basically taking Juliette through the paces of some easy, child-friendly fitness routines. Quynh usually sat on the sidelines, watching fondly as Andy adjusted Juliette’s posture with never ending patience. Booker had asked Quynh once, after catching a glimpse of the slight wistfulness in her eyes, if she and Andy wanted to try and have children, and Quynh had thought about it for a long moment and then sighed softly. “I don’t think so,” she said. “We only have a mortal life left now, you know, she and I, and I don’t know if that’s enough time to get over hundreds of years of pain well enough to be good mothers. Besides, what if the child were immortal and we had to leave them alone after what would be a blink of the eye in their lives?” Booker pulled her into a tight hug, then, so grateful to have these years with the sister he had dreamed of for so long. “We would always take care of them,” he promised her. “If that happened. You know, just something to think about.” She shook her head, hugging him back. “I don’t think it’s for us, but it is nice to see Andromache with your daughter. It brings out a different side of her,” she mused. “I think it’s good for both of them.”

It was, Booker thought. He could see how Andy helped boost Juliette’s confidence almost without even trying, how nice it was for Juli to have a female role model to look up to. He also could see how it was nice for Andy to have something soft in her life, for her to have the chance to shape the next generation after she had seen so many generations pass by. So many years, and yet this was the first time they had had children on the team. 

Juliette also spent endless hours that summer helping Nicky take care of the flowers in the garden, and letting Booker read to her, and playing dress-up with Nile, and before they knew it, it was September and it was time for Juliette to go to preschool for the first time.

The adults were very clearly more nervous than she was; while Juliette was running around the house in excitement, changing her mind again and again about what she wanted to wear on her first day, Joe and Nicky and Booker were conferring in hushed tones. What if she ran into Maria and it upset her? What if her teacher was an asshole? What if some kid in her class made a racist remark? What if she was scared to spend the whole day away from them? What if something happened during the day and they couldn’t protect her? They were driving themselves slowly crazy with all the what ifs, and finally Nile had to intervene. “You three need to stop fussing,” she insisted. “She’s going to be fine. She’s a tiny little badass, she won’t take shit from anyone, and she’s going to have a great day.”

They didn’t fully stop their fretting, but Nile’s no-nonsense attitude helped a little bit, and by the time Juliette finally decided on a red and white checked tunic, black leggings—“leggings are the best for training,” she told them solemnly and Andy gave her a little wink—her favourite boots and a red beret that Quynh had gotten her on her last shopping trip to Paris, mostly as a joke because “Juliette is French, after all”, they were all exhausted with the emotional strain of preparing for her first day of school. Booker didn’t even have the energy left to try and talk her out of the beret, and he just kissed the top of her head, told her that he was sure everyone would be jealous of her outfit, and put her to bed before flopping into his own bed, snuggled close to Joe and Nicky.

Nicky made everyone stacks of fluffy pancakes the next morning, while Booker checked and rechecked Juliette’s schoolbag to make sure that it had everything she could possibly need. She had gone back and forth on whether or not to bring Moby, her favourite little plush whale. Finally she had decided that she didn’t think she needed him, but Booker slipped Moby at the bottom of her bag, just in case. Joe got Juliette ready while Nile did her hair in intricate braids, and they were out the door only a few minutes later than planned, which Booker thought was pretty good, all things considered.

They were relieved to meet her teacher Signora Russo, a kind older beta woman who seemed like the caricature of a loving Italian grandma, and Andy nodded approvingly when Signora Russo leaned down to speak directly to Juliette, introducing herself and welcoming her to the class. Signora Russo gave them enough time that Juliette could give a hug to all three of her aunts and then longer ones to each of her parents, before the teacher gave the adults a smile and a nod and took Juliette by the hand, leading her away towards the playground.

Booker knew that the teacher knew what she was doing, knew that it was better not to drag out the goodbyes, that Juliette would be so busy with her new classroom and all of its toys and all her classmates that she wouldn’t miss them too much, but it still tugged at his heart to see his little girl walking away.

They all managed, barely, not to cry, except for Nicky, who sank into Joe’s arms halfway back to the house, sobbing into his shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I just—I don’t know how she’s growing up so fast,” and Booker understood, because it seemed like just yesterday that he had been pregnant. “We’ve enjoyed every moment so far,” he told Nicky calmly, rubbing his back as Joe held him. “And we will enjoy every minute of the future with her. Now come on, we have things to do so we can welcome her home this afternoon.”

They had agreed to set up a little surprise party to celebrate Juliette’s first day of school, and between hanging streamers, blowing up balloons, and baking some kind of incredibly intricate cake that Quynh had seen on Instagram which was very nearly beyond all of their baking skills put together, the day passed quicker than they would have expected and soon they had to shower and get ready to go pick Juliette up from school.

She didn’t see them at first, she was so busy talking to a little boy and showing him Moby the plush whale—Booker felt a sharp stab of relief that he had stuck the stuffed animal in her bag after all—as he shyly showed her a little soft octopus, and then she looked up and jumped up and down with excitement. She practically dragged the little boy over to them, and Booker spared a moment of pity for the poor boy who had been completely caught up in the whirlwind that was his daughter. “This is my family I was telling you about,” she told him enthusiastically. “That’s Aunt Andy who does my training, she’s the one who showed me the trick that I showed you at recess on the monkey bars. That’s Aunt Quynh, she’s married to Aunt Andy,” she explained, “and she always has the best clothes, and that’s Aunt Nile.” She gestured to Nile, who gave a little wave. “She’s my youngest aunt and she’s super cool and knows how to do fancy hair!” Juliette looked over at the boy’s hair, a little unconvinced. “I don’t know if she knows how to do much with your hair because it’s so soft and short, but Aunt Nile probably still knows a fancy hairdo for you, don’t worry!”

Her smile widened as she looked at her parents. “And these are my three dads,” she declared defiantly, as if she was waiting for him to say something about it. When he didn’t, she continued her introductions excitedly. “There’s babbo who’s the best cook in the whole wide world and baba who’s the best artist in the whole wide world and is teaching me how to draw and there’s papa who gives the best cuddles and knows all the best stories,” she explained, and Booker’s lips tugged upwards. “And who’s your friend, Juliette?” He prompted, nearly bursting out laughing when her eyes went wide as she realised she’d forgotten a key part of the introductions. “Oh, yes! This is Matteo, he’s the best and he likes sea animals just like me!”

They all dutifully chimed in with a chorus of “hello, Matteo” and then Booker couldn’t resist any longer and bent down to hug Juliette, smiling at her and her friend. “Well, Juli, it seems like you had a great day and I’m sure you’ll be looking forward to seeing Matteo tomorrow. It’s time to go home now, mon chou, so why don’t you say goodbye to your friend?” Juliette nodded, waving cheerfully at Matteo and then lifting Moby up so that the little whale could say goodbye as well. “See you tomorrow, Matteo!” she called, taking Booker’s hand as they started to walk towards home, chattering away about her successful first day the whole way there.


	5. Chapter 5

Juliette settled into school with an ease that was beyond anything they could have hoped for, coming home every day full of stories about what she had learned and about her classmates, both the good (usually involving Matteo, though she had become friendly with a couple of other children as well) and the bad (usually involving a girl named Elisabetta, who had somehow become Juliette’s nemesis though it was never quite clear how they had gotten off on the wrong foot).

It wasn’t as easy, however, for her parents to get used to the house without her presence in it. It was strange to have lunch without her chattering away and devotedly working on drawings to give to everyone at the table, and the house seemed so quiet in the afternoons until she came home. 

The team hadn’t really been working since they had settled in while Booker was still pregnant with Juliette. Honestly, Andy and Quynh had enough treasures stored away from a single year of their pirate days back in the 1500s that none of them ever needed to work again, but it had been a while since they had taken a break for several years at a time, and they were getting a little antsy. 

“I don’t want to go on missions, not while she’s so little,” Nicky mused one day when Booker caught him sitting at the kitchen table cleaning his sword, looking a little longingly at it. “I’m not sorry to take some years off from the endless violence, from not being sure if I’m making things worse or better in the world. But...I do miss that sense of purpose.” He carefully slid the sword back into the scabbard that Booker had made for him, that first Christmas when he was pregnant with Juliette, and Booker couldn’t resist wrapping his arms around Nicky’s shoulders and pressing a kiss to the top of his head, then when Nicky obediently tilted up towards him, kissing him properly. 

Booker’s relationship with Nicky had always been different than his with Joe. Joe had already loved Booker before he got pregnant, and once they had confessed their attraction to each other, they had been pretty much all in immediately. Nicky took longer to fall in love, and even once he did grow to love Booker, it wasn’t the same—it was a different kind of love, born out of quiet intimacy. Joe loved Booker loudly and uproariously, like he wanted everyone in the world to know it, and that filled Booker with a deep pride. But it was Nicky who was always watching, who could tell in an instant if Booker needed attention or if he was lost in his own head. Booker tried his best to extend the same courtesy to Nicky, to read when he was troubled or needed advice. “What do you want to do?” he asked, and Nicky hummed, thinking. “I really liked teaching, back in the 1990s,” he admitted. “I might have to forge some papers to update the year I got my last doctorate, but I thought maybe I could start giving a few courses at one of the university institutes in Florence, just a few classes a week,” he mused, and Booker kissed Nicky’s temple. “Whatever you want to do, you know we’ll support you in any way we can.”

“I also want to think about what kind of work or volunteering I could do,” Booker admitted, carefully sitting down in Nicky’s lap facing him. “But, well.” He chewed his lip a bit, thinking about whether to move forward with his thought. “I kind of want to do something else, first. I wanted to talk to you and Joe about whether you would want to have another baby,” he confessed. As if to forestall any questions Nicky might have, he added, “it’s not just because it’s a bit lonely now that Juliette is in school. I mean, it is partly that and because I feel like now we would have time and energy to devote to a new baby. But I’ve been thinking about it for a while, long before she went to school,” he acknowledged. “I miss being pregnant, and having a tiny little one around, and...she’s so so wonderful, I thought maybe our lives would be even richer with another little darling to love.”

“I’ve also been thinking about it,” Nicky confessed with a small smile, and Booker felt like a weight had been lifted off his chest, that he wasn’t the only one who had been dreaming of another little bright voice joining their family. “Really?” He asked, pressing his forehead to Nicky’s. “Because I thought that since we have a wonderful mini Joe already, it might be nice for this one to be a little mini Nicky,” he suggested, and Nicky’s eyes widened. “You—oh! Of course I would be thrilled,” he agreed easily, giving Booker a chaste kiss. “Though you never know, maybe they’ll come out looking like a mini Sébastien,” he teased, and Booker couldn’t take it anymore, he jumped up from Nicky’s lap, offering him his hand to pull him up. “Let’s find Joe,” he urged. “Need to talk to him about this.”

Joe was over the moon at the possibility, and they agreed to start trying when Booker’s next heat hit in two months. Booker felt like he was walking on a cloud those first days after they made the decision, already picturing a little boy or girl with Nicky’s eyes. He was so happy to do this right this time, instead of the horrific circumstances under which Juliette had been conceived—though of course he wouldn’t trade her for the world.

He was beautifully, deliriously happy, and then the accident happened. They had taken Juliette to the local park one Sunday afternoon, where she was scampering around on top of the jungle gym. Booker had one eye on her as always, but was laughing at a story Nile was telling, and then in the corner of his eye he saw her fall from the top of the playground equipment and heard her pained cry. 

He was by her side in an instant, heart pounding in his chest at the thought of her being hurt. His heart sank as he saw her beautiful face scrunched up in pain and looked down to see that her left arm was clearly broken, twisted at the wrong angle. “You’re going to be okay,” he assured her, carefully checking the rest of her body and relieved when he didn’t see any other major injuries. “You’re going to be just fine,” he repeated, looking up at Joe and Nicky who had run over from where they had been setting up a picnic. “Her left arm’s broken,” Booker told them in Arabic, Juliette’s least fluent language, not wanting to worry her more. “But she’s okay otherwise, I think. I don’t know if we should call an ambulance or take her to the hospital ourselves—“ Nicky was bending down beside their daughter, looking intently at her, and when he turned to Booker there was clear confusion on his face. “Are you sure her arm’s broken?” He asked. “It looks fine to me,” he explained, and Booker had to blink twice when he looked back down, because Nicky was right. Her arm, which he was confident had been at the completely wrong angle just minutes ago, looked like nothing had ever happened. Booker’s eyes flickered to her knee where he had noticed a small scrape when checking her over earlier, and watched in awe as it healed before his eyes. 

“She’s healing,” Nicky said, calmly, and Booker’s eyes brimmed with tears. “Juli,” he asked her, still unable to believe it. “Does your arm still hurt?” “A little,” she said in a small voice. “But before it hurt really bad, papa, too bad to even lift it up,” and he sighed, pulling her into his arms and holding her close. “I know, baby, but you’re alright now, everything’s going to be fine, I promise.” He buried his face in her curls, and his quiet joy and awe nearly burst when she wrapped both little arms around his neck, moving like she had never broken her arm. Merrick’s damn doctor had been right—his daughter had inherited their ability. He knew that that came with challenges—he would have to explain it to her sometime and hope that she didn’t resent the long years ahead of her; they would have to figure out how to keep her classmates and teachers from figuring out that she couldn’t stay injured for long. But in that moment, Booker was just filled with a profound relief, because he hadn’t even dared to hope that he might have this. He wouldn’t lose his daughter like he had his sons; he wouldn’t have to watch her grow old and sick and hate him while he stayed the same. For the first time in two hundred years, he truly looked forward to the future stretched out in front of him—centuries with Joe and Nicky, centuries with their beloved daughter and maybe a new child as well, a family he could keep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that in canon it seems like they probably only heal from injuries once they die their first death, but honestly I couldn’t bear to have Booker & the others go through decades wondering about Juliette’s immortality, so. Maybe it works differently for people who inherit their immortality by having two immortal parents?


	6. Chapter 6

Booker had expected it to be easy—he had gotten pregnant with his boys quickly and he’d only been in heat a couple of hours before he conceived Juliette. His heat came and went though, and despite a lot of enthusiastic trying with Nicky while Joe watched, eyes hooded with desire, he wasn’t pregnant when his heat faded. When his second, and then third, heat since they had decided to start trying for a baby came and went, it was hard not to feel discouraged—but he tried to remind himself that they had all the time in the world. And even if for some reason he couldn’t have another child, they had Juliette—and, since Juliette’s accident at the park that day, Booker had gotten used to the thought that they would have her around for many many years. 

If Booker was sorry to see his heats pass by with no sign of a baby, Nicky was absolutely distraught over it. He would hold Booker close in the wake of his heats, carding his fingers through Booker’s hair and whispering apologies against his shoulder even though Booker assured him that there was nothing to apologise for. Nicky had started suggesting maybe that Booker should try with Joe instead, but Booker just shook his head, entangling their fingers. “Have a little faith, Nicky,” he said softly, kissing Nicky’s hand until the other man’s sorrow faded a bit.

Other than the unexpected challenges getting pregnant, life was good for their little cobbled-together family. Nicky and Joe had both started teaching a few days a week at the university in Florence, Nicky teaching medieval literature and Joe art history. Quynh was writing a book about Vietnamese fashion throughout history with Nile serving as her dedicated research assistant, and Andy was enjoying a much-deserved rest after so many years of fighting. Booker was one of the most involved parents at Juliette’s school, constantly offering to take the children on field trips or come in to read them stories, and he was there every afternoon without fail to pick up his little girl, to sweep her into his arms and hear about her day.

They had talked to her briefly after she had broken her arm and it had healed within minutes. Joe and Nicky and Booker had agonised over how to explain it to her, and they had settled on the simplest thing they could think of, knowing that they could give her more details as she got older. They had just told her that like brown hair or blue eyes was passed down in families, other things were as well and that their family had a special ability that helped them heal very quickly when they got hurt, and they had suggested that she not brag about it because her friends might get jealous. It wasn’t perfect, but it was the essential message they needed her to know. She had accepted it calmly, clearly not understanding that it would change her life completely, and just told them how glad she was that her arm didn’t hurt anymore because it had hurt “really really badly, papa, the worst ever” and Booker had to squeeze her tightly in his arms then before Nicky suggested that they all go for ice cream.

She hadn’t had any major accidents since then, but she’d had more than enough little scrapes that they had watched vanish before their eyes that they were confident that they were right, that she could heal just as they could. Booker was almost surprised by how unqualifiedly happy he was about it—he had worried that he might feel guilty for imposing a nearly-endless life on his daughter, a blessing and a curse which would mean that she couldn’t have a normal life, but instead he was just relieved and grateful that he would always be able to protect his little girl.

He picked her up on the last day before her spring break, smiling fondly as she gave Matteo a long hug goodbye since they wouldn’t see each other for a few weeks. “I have a surprise for you, pumpkin,” he told her as they walked home hand in hand. “How’d you like to go on a trip for a few days?” He asked and her eyes widened. “A trip?” They had mostly stayed settled since she had been born, and hadn’t ventured much beyond Italy, so this was a fairly new experience for her. “Yes, a trip, with you, me, babbo and baba, to a very special place for our family.” He brushed her wild curls out of her eyes, smiling as she looked up at him trustingly. “But if you don’t want to go on a trip with your old fathers,” he teased, “we can just stay at home instead...” He chuckled at her pout, and ruffled her hair. “Don’t worry, I’m just kidding. We leave tomorrow morning, so tonight I’ll help you pick out some clothes and which toys you want to bring. It’ll be warm where we’re going, so we can even get out some of your summer clothes.” 

“Where are we going?” She asked eagerly, practically bouncing up and down next to him. “To Malta,” he explained. “It’s a little island south of Italy,” and she grinned widely. “I know about Malta, babbo told me all about it and told me that that’s where he and baba got married!” She looked at him a bit hesitantly. “Papa, are you married to babbo and baba? Babbo told me all about his wedding but you’ve never told any stories about yours.” Booker sighed softly, having figured he couldn’t outrun this conversation forever. He bent down to look his daughter in the eyes, taking both of her hands in his. “I’m not, no, because legally you can’t marry two people at the same time and babbo and baba are already married to each other. But I love them just as much as if we were married, and we’re a family no matter what, and that’s the important part.” Juliette chewed on her lip, thinking for a moment, and then brightened. “You can still have a wedding even if you can’t get married, right?” Booker had never even thought about it, honestly, but she wasn’t wrong, after all, and it started to give him ideas. “Well, I suppose we could,” he agreed. “Would you like that, sweetheart? You could be our little flower girl,” he mused, and it was a really nice image, Juliette all dressed up throwing petals, Nicky and Joe in suits waiting for Booker at the end of the aisle...yes, it was something he had never imagined having, but it was something he realised he wanted. “Yes!” She cheered, clapping her hands together excitedly. “Alright, I’ll work on that,” he promised her. “But it should be just our little secret for now, okay? I want to think of how to ask your babbo and baba properly,” he explained, and she put a finger to her lips solemnly. 

She loved every part of the flight to Malta the next day, as she sat in the window seat with Nicky next to her pointing out the various Italian towns that he could recognise from the air. The two of them were still chattering away in Italian as they walked out into the warm air, and Booker shot Joe a fond look. “It’s nice to be here with you,” Booker whispered. He had passed through Malta before, but he had never stayed long, always thinking of it as Nicky and Joe’s place, their private retreat. That Joe had suggested they come here all together, the first time as a family with Juliette and Booker, had touched Booker deeply, and he wanted to make sure that Joe knew it. Joe’s eyes softened, and he pulled Booker in for a lingering kiss, rubbing his back. “I’m so glad to share this with you and our girl,” he replied.

Nicky and Joe had planned a busy schedule, between hiking around, swimming, boat rides and visiting cultural highlights like the temples of Ħaġar Qim. Booker stifled a smile at Juliette’s wide-eyes wonder when Nicky told her that it was nearly six thousand years old, wondering how she would react if she knew that her beloved aunt Andy was even older. They still found time for lazy afternoons on the roof terrace of Joe and Nicky’s house, and sunset ice cream on the waterfront, and they took turns taking care of Juliette while the other two went on a date. Joe and Nicky had gone together first, then Joe and Booker and now Joe was taking Juliette to see a fireworks show while Nicky and Booker had the evening to themselves. 

Nicky took him to the Upper Barrakka Gardens first, where they shared a bottle of Prosecco and watched the sun set over the harbour, and then they went home where Nicky put on some of the upbeat Italian music from the 1960s that he loved so much, occasionally pausing his cooking to swing Booker around the room when a song came on that he particularly liked, leaving Booker both breathless with laughter and with affection for this beautiful, impossible man who was willing to share both his life and his husband with Booker. They fell into bed together nearly as soon as they set the spoons down from their chocolate mousse, taking the opportunity to take their time, and they had barely gotten cleaned up and dressed when they heard Joe come in, tiptoeing to Juliette’s room to put her to bed after she had fallen asleep on his shoulder as soon as the fireworks had ended. “We should take her to see fireworks more often,” Joe commented as he closed the door to her room and turned to face his partners. “She absolutely loved it, even if it was a lot of excitement for so late at night.” He came over to give Nicky a hug and a kiss hello, then Booker. “How was your night? Nicky told me that he was making that wild boar pasta he always makes for special occasions,” he remarked, then a sudden strange look came over him. He leaned over, sniffing the air next to Booker, and Booker frowned. “I just showered,” he teased. “If you don’t like the smell of that shampoo you should have bought me that fancy brand I like,” he teased, and Joe shook his head, looking thunderstruck. “Your scent has changed, Booker, just in the few hours I’ve been gone. I think—I think you’re pregnant,” he explained, and Booker felt like he’d been punched in the chest, knocking all the air from his lungs. “I—but I’m not even in heat,” he stammered. It wasn’t unheard of to get pregnant outside of a heat, but the chances were almost nil, and he couldn’t believe that he hadn’t gotten pregnant three heats in a row and then conceived in the middle of his cycle. “That’s—I mean, the chances of that—“ Nicky stepped closer, burying his face in Booker’s shoulder and drinking in his scent, and he nodded with an amazed grin. “It’s true, Booker,” he told him. “You smell like you did when you were pregnant with Juliette, only a little bit different because it’s my baby,” and his eyes widened as saying that made it seem real. “My baby,” he said in awe, his eyes welling up with tears. “Book, we’re having a baby,” he whispered, and Booker couldn’t stand it anymore, he pulled Nicky into a tight hug, peppering his face with kisses. “We’re having a baby,” he repeated, cupping Nicky’s face in his hands. He was deliriously happy, and there was only one thing missing—he turned to Joe, beckoning him to come and join their hug, and when Joe’s arms settled around him his happiness was complete.


	7. Chapter 7

The three of them were so thrilled after they found out that Booker was pregnant that they extended their Malta vacation by another five days. When Booker gave a token protest that they didn’t have enough clothes packed and that Joe and Nicky had never bothered to install a washing machine in their house there, Nicky, who had been nearly unable to keep his hands off of Booker since the news, pulled him close and whispered in French, “who says you have to wear anything?”

He came to his senses later of course, when Booker pointedly reminded him that they had a young and impressionable daughter who was napping in the next room, and instead they let Joe—who out of the three of them had the best tolerance for shopping—run downtown to Valletta and rustle them up a few extra pairs of boxers, T-shirts and some new dresses for Juliette. The little girl acted like Christmas had come early when she saw the new things, and Booker cuddled her close, burying his nose in her curls. “When we get back, you and Aunt Quynh can go on a shopping trip,” he promised her, smiling as she brightened. “Can I get new boots like Aunt Andy has, papa? Really fancy ones that go up my whole legs?” She asked so eagerly that he couldn’t help but laugh and agree.

“You know I love you more than the stars in the sky, right, Juliette?” He asked, suddenly struck by the fear that would come over him from time to time, the fear that somehow she didn’t understand how deeply they adored her. He especially wanted to make sure she understood that now, when the shape of their family was about to change. They hadn’t told her yet about the baby; Booker thought that she would be excited, but at the same time he fretted that she would feel like she was being displaced. He was especially worried about how she would react when she realised that Nicky was the new baby’s biological father—would it change her relationship with her babbo at all? He hoped not, knew in his bones that Nicky and Joe would love both children completely equally, but he still worried. “I know, papa,” she replied simply. “I love you too that much,” she assured him, sliding her little hand trustingly in his, and his worries subsided for the moment.

It was a wonderful break, but by the time their rescheduled flight rolled around, Booker was ready to be back in the house that had come to feel like home over the past few years, and ready to see his sisters again. He knew that there was no hope of hiding his pregnancy from them, not when Quynh had been the one to instantly tell that he was carrying Joe’s child the last time. And to tell the truth, he didn’t want to hide it from them—he wanted these first months of his pregnancy to be what the early days of his pregnancy with Juliette hadn’t been, back when he was still wracked by guilt and there had been such a distance between him and Joe and Nicky.

He felt like he owed it to Juliette, though, to tell her before the others found out, and so on their last night in Malta, the four of them went up to the roof terrace. Joe had laid out blankets and brought some of Juliette’s stuffed animals, while Nicky had hand churned caramel ice cream. They cuddled up together under the blankets and ate their ice cream looking up at the stars, and then once they had set their bowls aside, Booker pulled Juliette close to his side, his fingers toying with the floppy ear of her stuffed rabbit—a distant second to Moby the whale in Juliette’s book, but he had always liked the bunny’s comically large ears—to calm his nerves. “Juli,” he said softly. “We have something exciting to tell you.” 

She tilted her head to face him, and he brushed one of her springy curls out of her face. “Next winter,” he whispered, “sometime right around Christmas, you’re going to be a big sister, because we’re having a baby.” There was a beat of silence, just long enough to make him worry, and then she squealed in delight, wrapping her arms around his neck and crushing the poor stuffed rabbit between them. “Really truly?” She asked, and he laughed and nodded. “Really truly, ma puce,” he assured her. “Are you happy about that?” He asked, just to check, though she certainly seemed happy. “So happy, papa,” she assured him. “Can I tell you a secret?” 

He laughed, relieved, and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Of course you can, darling.” She grinned, snuggling closer. “Last year when we went to see Santa Claus at the Christmas village, I asked him if maybe I could have a little brother or sister, I told him it was the thing I wanted most in the whole world,” she admitted, and Booker’s heart clenched. “Well, you’re going to have one,” he promised. “I’m glad you’re so happy about it,” Joe added, shooting his daughter a fond smile, “because your papa and babbo and I are also very excited. It’s going to be so much fun to watch the new baby grow and teach them about all the things we love, don’t you think?” 

Juliette nodded decisively, and that was it, like the dam had been unleashed, and she started asking questions a mile a minute. Did they know whether it was a boy or girl? Not yet, Booker explained, and she shrugged and said that she didn’t mind either one. Could they come back to Malta once the baby was born, because she didn’t want the baby to miss out on all the fun things they had done? Of course, Nicky told her with a twinkle in his eye, they could even come back to Malta many times because they owned the house. Would the baby look like her? Probably a bit like her, Booker agreed, and a bit like papa, and a bit like babbo, he added cautiously, but she just nodded, deep in thought. Could she say hello to the baby? She asked a bit shyly, and Nicky brought her hand to roughly the right place on Booker’s flat stomach. 

“The baby is still too small for you to see or feel,” he told her in Italian. “Eventually, when he or she is bigger, we’ll be able to put our hands there and feel them kicking to say hello back to us. But even though they’re very very tiny right now, we can still tell them how excited we are to meet them when they’re ready to come out.” Juliette nodded with that quiet solemn air she got sometimes that reminded Booker and Joe so much of Nicky, and she was bending down to whisper something against Booker’s belly before she turned again to Nicky, a small frown on her face. “Does the baby understand Italian, babbo?” She asked, earning a half-smile from Nicky. “The baby is going to learn all of the same languages that you speak, sweetheart, but right now it doesn’t matter which one you choose, because what the baby will understand the most is how much we love them.”

She nodded again, determined, and then curled up with her head resting lightly on Booker’s abdomen, starting in on a little monologue to the baby. “You’re going to see, we have the best family,” she assured her younger sibling. “And we have such a nice house with lots of flowers in the garden that babbo planted and baba put paintings all over the place, he’s such a good artist. I hope you like art too, I love art but I’m not as good at it as baba yet. There’s a big painting in my room of our whole family, except I guess now baba will have to add you cause you’re not in it! We have lots of toys at home and I’ll let you play with all of them, promise, even my favourites...”

They let her talk herself to sleep, and then, once her breathing had evened out, Nicky pressed a kiss to Booker’s cheek. “I’ll take her to bed,” he whispered. “I’ll be back in a few minutes, my loves,” and with infinite care he scooped their daughter into his arms, tiptoeing inside with her. Booker rolled over into Joe’s arms once Nicky had closed the door, sighing against his chest and tilting his chin up for a kiss. “How did we get so lucky?” Booker asked, and Joe just quirked one eyebrow. “I’ve asked myself how I got so lucky for nine hundred years, and even more so since you and Juliette joined our lives,” he replied easily. “I’ve long since given up hoping to find an answer, I just try and make the most of this joy I’ve been given.” Booker kissed him again at that, deeper, and he honestly had intended to keep it chaste and sweet but he had always been weak for Joe, and by the time Nicky came back onto the terrace, Booker was straddling Joe as they licked into each other’s mouths. Joe had already lost his own shirt and his hands were roaming freely under Booker’s, drawing shaky gasps from him every time his fingers pinched Booker’s pebbled nipples. Nicky whistled appreciatively, shutting the door carefully before sinking to the floor next to them. “You two are a beautiful sight,” he told them, pressing his own lips to Joe’s neck to suck a mark even though it would fade in seconds and clapping one hand on Booker’s thigh, his palm a sweet warm pressure even through the fabric of Booker’s pants. “What do you want?” He asked, his fingers sliding up and down Booker’s inner thigh, and Booker threw his head back, helpless. “You two,” he replied, “always you.”

Booker had so many beloved memories from Juliette’s early years, but that night he would always particularly cherish, making love in the cool spring air under the stars, Nicky and Joe’s hands intertwined over the place where their newest little miracle was just starting to grow. 


	8. Chapter 8

As Booker had predicted, it didn’t take the others long to figure out their happy news. It took Nile a tiny bit longer, but that was because as soon as they pulled up in front of the house and opened the taxi doors on their way from the airport, little Juliette rantowards her youngest aunt and leapt into her arms, babbling away about all the things she had done in Malta.

Quynh, though, sniffed the air delicately and grinned, nudging Andy’s side. “You owe me €50 and a nice long massage, my love,” she pointed out, and Andy only looked confused for a moment before she put two and two together and then she was smiling too, pulling Booker into her arms. “Félicitations, mon ami,” she whispered, kissing his cheek while Quynh was enthusiastically hugging first Nicky and then Joe. 

Nile looked over at the sudden lovefest, quirking an eyebrow, and Quynh chuckled. “Our boys had a very busy vacation,” she said cryptically, leaving little doubt as to what she meant by the way she waggled her eyebrows suggestively. “Oh!” Nile exclaimed once she put two and two together. “Oh that’s so exciting!” She looked down at Juliette, mouthing “does she know?” over the little girl’s head, and Booker nodded with a smile. Nile ran her fingers through Juliette’s halo of curls, holding her close. “Are you excited to be a big sister, Juliette?” She asked, grinning when Juliette screamed “yes!” at the top of her lungs and started telling Nile everything she was planning to do with the baby once he or she had arrived.

It was good to be home, even if the morning after they got back, Booker woke up feeling miserable. He barely made it out of bed and to the attached bathroom before throwing up, and he offered Joe a weak smile when he came in to rub Booker’s back. “I forgot how much this part sucks,” Booker remarked with a rueful grin, and Joe pressed a kiss to his neck. “I’m sorry it’s so hard on you, hayati. Let us know if we can do anything for you,” and Booker grinned, taking Joe’s hand and using it to help get up off the tile floor so that he could brush his teeth and get the foul taste out of his mouth. “Just having you two here with me is enough,” he assured you. “This will pass before too long, I just need to be patient these early weeks.”

He heard the outer door to their bedroom open, and, curious, he walked back out of the bathroom, only to find Nicky giving him his trademark half-smile and offering him up a bowl of soup. “This should help you, amore,” he explained, and Booker smiled, setting the bowl on the nightstand so that he could pull Nicky in for a kiss. “I remember when you first made this for me when I was pregnant with Juliette,” he reminded him. “You were slamming doors all over the house and I thought you were annoyed that I kept throwing up. Then you brought me this, told me you had looked up what could help with my morning sickness, and I realised that you had been worried about me—or worried about the baby, at least. You were still so angry with me then, but it was the first time that I started to believe that I might earn your forgiveness someday.” Nicky’s eyes softened, and he pulled Booker into a tight hug, his hand warm on Booker’s back. “We’ve come a long way since then, haven’t we,” he whispered, his fingers running through Booker’s hair. 

Nicky held him just like that for a long moment, and then nudged him playfully in the side, shaking him out of their reverie. “Come on, eat your soup before it gets cold,” he teased, and Booker grinned, obligingly sitting down and starting to sip at the magic broth which had gotten him through those early days of sickness in his last pregnancy.

It was six weeks later, when Booker was just starting to feel a little better in the mornings, that the moment came that they had always known would come sooner or later, though Nicky especially, the most protective out of Juliette’s three very protective fathers, had hoped that they would have more time. 

They were all sitting together at the dining table—unless she was absolutely exhausted, they tried to have Juliette eat dinner with them, because they thought it was important to have meals as a family—and Quynh was a little tipsy after she and Nicky had polished off the rest of the cooking wine. Joe quoted a line of poetry offhand as Nicky passed him the bread and their fingers brushed together, and Quynh clapped her hands excitedly. “I recognise that one! From one of Shakespeare’s sonnets, I just can’t remember which one.” She chuckled, winking at Nicky. “I still remember how fond Will Shakespeare was of you, Nicky, I swear half of his poems were about you—remember that one he made up on the spot in the tavern, about your eyes?”

She didn’t realise the implications of what she had said, not until Nicky stared at her wide-eyed and Juliette laughed and exclaimed “That’s silly, Aunt Quynh, babbo can’t have known Shakespeare cause Shakespeare lived in the 1500s!” 

If it had been another historical figure, another writer, Juliette might not have noticed, but she and Joe had recently worked their way through a book of illustrated stories from Shakespeare for children, which had a whole section on Shakespeare’s life, so it was too much to hope that she wouldn’t have picked up on the date discrepancy.

Joe, Nicky and Booker all looked at each other, in the silent communication they had gotten so good at since becoming parents. They could still pass it off as a joke, probably, but they had talked extensively about this, about when to tell her. Nicky had wanted to protect her from the knowledge of their immortality for as long as possible, but Booker had argued that it was better to tell her as soon as she was old enough to somewhat understand. It would make it easier, he thought, to grow up with it normalised, to understand why it was best not to get too attached to anyone outside their family, or why they would have to move in a few years once people started to notice that they weren’t ageing. He couldn’t imagine letting her get to be an adult—or worse yet, get to her first death—without telling her, he felt like it was an unbearable breach of trust.

Booker looked at his partners, held their gaze, and waited until they nodded, all on the same page, and then he pulled Juliette into his lap. “Juliette, sweetheart,” he began softly. “You know how our family has that special thing that when we get hurt, we get better really quickly? Like when you fell on the playground and your arm hurt really badly but it was all better in a few minutes, while when your friend Matteo fell on the slide, he had to have his arm in a cast for six weeks?”

“Yes!” She exclaimed, smiling up at him trustingly. “I didn’t tell Matteo that he took a really long time to get better, cause you told me that maybe he would get jealous, and I didn’t want to make him sad that his arm hurt for a lot longer than mine did,” and Booker smiled back at her, his heart clenching at what a kind little girl he had. “That was the right thing to do, ma puce,” he assured her. “Well, because we can get better so quickly, we can also live for a very long time, for many many years.” He ran a finger through her curls, not sure how much she was understanding, trying to think of how else to explain it to her in a remotely age-appropriate way—telling her that he had had a grenade thrown in his lap and survived didn’t seem like a good idea—but then something clicked in her mind and her blue eyes widened.

“Wait, so you mean you actually  _ did _ know Shakespeare?” she asked, practically bouncing in excitement, and he breathed out a sigh of relief that she had seemingly accepted it so easily. It made sense in a way, and it was one of the reasons why he had wanted to tell her while she was still young—children were so adaptable, and Juliette was a voracious reader, her books full of fantastical things like magic and time travel, so maybe it was no surprise that she could so easily wrap her mind around an unnaturally long life. 

“Well,” he told her with a chuckle. “I didn’t myself, I’m not quite that old, but your babbo and baba and Aunt Andy and Aunt Quynh did,” he assured her, enjoying how excited she seemed. “Shakespeare liked your babbo very much,” Joe teased, the same relief that Booker was feeling clear on his face. It felt good, to be on the other side of Juliette learning their secret. There was much they still had to tell her, of course, but most of that could and should wait until she was grown up. And as for the hardest thing to tell her, the fact that she would lose Andy and Quynh in a mere forty years or so, Booker had never given up hoping for a miracle that would return his sisters’ healing ability.

She was full of questions, unsurprisingly, and they let her stay up far past her usual bedtime that night, curled up in Booker’s lap. She nearly fell out onto the floor when she found out how old Joe and Nicky were. “You were medieval people?” She asked, eyes wide as saucers. “Were you knights?” Nicky chuckled, ruffling her hair. “Not exactly,” he told her, because under no circumstances was he going to tell her how he and Joe met, not until she was much, much older and could understand Nicky’s profound repentance for what he had done back then and the immensity of Joe’s grace in forgiving him. She was disappointed that they hadn’t lived in a castle, but she forgave them when they told her all about riding the plains with Genghis Khan—“now that was a man who appreciated good horses,” Andy interjected wistfully.

“Will I get to go to  _ space _ ?” Juliette asked at one point, and Booker laughed, realising that he had never thought about it before. “Yes, I suppose you probably will, if you want to. We have many many years ahead of us, my darling,” he assured her, holding her small hand in his. “The baby too?” She asked, a little nervously, and he nodded, because they didn’t have any reason to believe that their second child would be any different. “And even if we live for a thousand years,” he promised her, “I will still love you and the baby just as much as I do today,” and she leaned up to press a kiss on his cheek. “You too, papa,” she pledged, and then blew kisses around the room to each of her favourite adults—“and you, Aunt Nile, and you, babbo, and you—“ She finished with the baby, pressing a kiss to Booker’s still-flat belly like she had started doing. “And you too, baby brother,” she promised. She had become convinced that the baby was a boy, even though they had explained to her that it was too early to tell. 

She gave a great heaving yawn then, rubbing her eyes a bit, and Joe chuckled. “We let you stay up pretty late tonight, didn’t we sweetheart? C’mere,” he murmured, lifting her out of Booker’s lap and into his arms. “Off to bed we go,” and Booker wondered for the millionth time, as he watched Joe tenderly carry their sleepy daughter out of the kitchen, how he could have possibly gotten so lucky.


End file.
